Hamilton: “I was ahead and got hit”

2011 Belgian Grand Prix

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Update: Hamilton has changed his view of this incident: Hamilton accepts blame for Kobayashi crash

Lewis Hamilton blamed Kamui Kobayashi for the crash that put him out of the Belgian Grand Prix.

Speaking after the crash he said: “I’m not really quite sure, to be honest. I hit the wall pretty hard.

“It’s a bit unfortunate, the team were in a good position.

“As far as I was concerned I was ahead of whoever it was I was racing and I got hit by them and that was my race over.

“That’s motor racing. There’s been a lot of races we haven’t finished this year so that’s just another one of them.”

Hamilton said his car had poor straight line speed which made it difficult to pass other cars:

“I think we were struggling. For whatever reason we were massively slow on the straights. Massively, massively slow.

“And I guess that’s what put us in that position. Everyone was just pulling away from me on the straights.

“I think we probably had a little too much downforce on.”

However he reckoned a top-three finish was possible:

“We were in a good position, we were still able to challenge. I got past one of the Ferraris, I think we could have at least got a podium.”

The stewards have taken no action over the collision.

Update: Here’s what Kobayashi had to say about the crash: “Regarding the accident with Lewis Hamilton, which happened when I was running in fourth, I knew perfectly well he was faster than me so had no reason to fight with him.

“After he overtook me it was not my intention to get my position back, so I stayed on my line and didn’t expect him to move over.”

2011 Belgian Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
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    146 comments on “Hamilton: “I was ahead and got hit””

    1. It was 100% Kobayashi’s fault.
      Hamilton had well and truly passed Kobayashi and was looking towards the apex. Kobayashi should have yielded.

      1. I think it’s difficult to apportion any percent of blame to either driver – particularly 100%.

        The word “racing incident” seems to have been lost in recent years which is a shame – when somebody hits somebody else, then it is always “Driver A’s fault” or “Driver B’s fault” – why can the stewards, and indeed the fans, not see that sometimes, not always, but sometimes, neither driver is at fault and it just happened.

      2. Kobayashi was fully entitled to take an opportunity to attempt to repass Lewis so long as he didn’t touch him which is exactly what happened. It just seemed to look like Lewis failed to notice he was there.

        1. TBH Kobayashi hit the rear tyre of Hamilton. If he’d been on the inside he would have been more warranted to expect Hamilton to give him space, but Kobayashi was being over-ambitious I feel, should have stamped on the breaks.

          1. Lewis hit Kob. Kob was just going straight, while Lewis was moving towards Kob.

            If it were Lewis and Alonso, I bet you Lewis would not have moved over so quickly.

            1. +1. You cant just move (left, in this case) knowing you just overtook the guy.
              Hamilton is a great driver, but has been making so many silly mistakes…

            2. Kobayashi turned in far too early while fully aware that Hamilton was inside of him and in front! Hamilton barely moved across if you watch from the in car view. How on earth can that be hamiltons fault? Kobayashi was aiming for a space that was never going to be there. If it was the other way around everyone would be claiming Hamilton was being recklesss……

              You just can’t expect to put your car in that position going into a corner and not expect to hit the other car let alone turn in to that corner early!

          2. Why? He had a look on the outside. Maybe he was trying to force Lewis to take a uncomfortable line through the next 3 corners, in hope to get him.

            He was entirely entitled to do it, as they were fighting for the position. Lewis just didn’t seem to know KK was there all along.

            In any case, that’s why we love Hamilton, because he never gives up. Well, Koba didn’t give up either, and they clashed. Tough luck, move on.

            1. Because Lewis would have expected Alonso (or any top car driver) to be on his outside, making his life hard.

          3. Driver’s always go into that corner side by side. Even that he was in fornt, it was up to Lewis to change his racing line. Lewis had just passed him and should have been looking in his mirrors for any canter form kobi. Of all people kobi is always the last person to give up on a postion, it was unfortunate that Lewis didn’t look for him.
            When you’re driving, race track or not, you always have to use you’re mirrors.

            1. Lewis was well and truly ahead well before the corner. He would’ve expected Kobayashi to slot in behind him and maybe try again at another corner.

              Lewis was well within his rights to “close the door.” He wasn’t weaving around dangerously. The agreement between the drivers is that you’re allowed to make one defensive move, and then return to the racing line, which is what he did.

              Kobayashi was much later on the brakes, and possibly attempting an overtake. As always, the overtaking car has the responsibility to make sure it’s a clean overtake. In this case, Kobayashi put the front of his car into a wedge which he could see was closing, and didn’t take action to avoid the collision.

              For the record, I’m not a flaming Hamilton fanboy who defends him all the time. Yesterday, I was apportioning partial blame in the Maldonado incident.

              The Kobayashi incident was a racing incident, but one that resulted from Kobayashi being a little too ambitious on the brakes.

            2. There was enough room for kobayashi. Kobayashi turned in early for some reason you can clearly see this on the replay and it is clear from the in car view that Hamilton did not move left before the contact.

      3. wrong.hamilton is the one who turns into kobayashy. He probably expected kk to let him pass easily. and for all you hamilton lover’s tell me somethin?. I don’t remember hamilton having say the same ” I was in front of him so the other car is at fault” when hamilton took out maldonado,and massa in monaco,who were in front of them. didn’t he?

      4. Jelle van der Meer (@)
        28th August 2011, 17:12

        Disagree – there is only 1 being stupid here and to blame – that is Hamilton.

        There was absolutely no need for him to move 100% back to the racing line – Hamilton could easily have taken the corner from where he was on the track.

        Not saying that Kobayashi could have kept distance but Hamilton himself did not check mirrors and took a HUGE risk or assumption with very little to gain.

        Unlike in qualifying where he was 100% right and should not have received a reprimand and Maldonande should have been banned for atleast 1 race the possible gain to follow the ideal racing line did not outweight the risk of getting hit.

        1. I think Hamilton was caught out because of 3 reasons.

          1) He had his DRS open and Kobayashi didn’t. The natural assumption is that you will sail away from the other driver.

          2) Hamilton was faster (in terms of lap time), was on new tyres and although they were racing for position they weren’t going to end the race anywhere near each other and they both knew that fact as they were racing.

          3) When a car is next to you but a bit behind, that’s when it’s in your blind spot.

          ————-

          Anyway my take on it is that both drivers deserve a bit of blame. It’s basically a racing incident. A pointless one though. If your going to crash during a pass at least do it with one of your main rivals.

          It’s a shame I wanted to see where Hamilton would have ended up in the race.

      5. He did the same Vettel did to Webber last year. Brake earlier, but dont change side, if you dont have the perfect line.

      6. Case closed Hamilton admits it was his fault on his twitter:
        “After watching the replay, I realize it was my fault today 100%. I didn’t give Kobayashi enough room though I thought in was past.”

        “Apologies to Kamui and to my team. The team deserves better from me. Best wishes, Lewis”

          1. PR and Lewis himself??

      7. Are you kidding? Kobayashi was going straight alongside Hamilton, and Hamilton turned left. End of it.

    2. No one is to be blamed here. The incident was quite unfortunate.

      1. Comparing hamilton’s move on maldonaldo at monaco , where maldonaldo turned into the corner but hamilton failed to lift off and instead committed to the corner ,who was blamed for that incident ? folks are always quick to move on if lewis isn’t at fault ,whenever of course there is a slight chance that Ham could be blamed all knives would be out .

        can you believe people are so overwhelmed with hate that they still blamed lewis for the clash with maldonaldo yesterday? What a pity

        1. How many chances is Lewis going to get before it stops being bad luck and starts being negligible. For himself and Martin Whitmarsh to blame Kobayashi for that incident is pathetic.

        2. Agree with you. Hamilton wasn’t saying the same when he took out maldonado and massa who were in front of him,that time he said ” I went for the gap”
          hamilton’s love are running out of excuses,before he injures or kills someone.

          1. Geordie Porker
            28th August 2011, 16:33

            Problem here tete – Hamilton’s moves in Monaco were him on the inside of the corner, so the other driver could (possibly) have been expected to be looking for a move.
            Having said that, I think Lewis was to blame for those incidents.

            But…here Kobayashi was on the *outside* of the corner and Hamilton was unaware of his attack.
            I still think worst case 60/40 blame (KOB/HAM) for this incident. I just object to the irrelevant comparison

      2. Exactly. But blaming someone is far more exciting, isn’t it?

    3. Well Lewis, you cut him off, a bit stupid. But your not the first and won’t be the last to do it. Move on, next race.

      Least you didn’t do it on purpose. (I’m talking to you Pastor).

      1. Cut him off? Oh please…

        He was clearly ahead and taking the racing line to turn right, while Kobayashi braked / was braking far too late and putting himself in a position where he could go nowhere.

        1. You can’t take the racing line if there’s a car already in it. :/

          Kamui was up alongside him long before the braking point. Lewis simply didn’t see him.

          1. Exactly, it was a racing incident. No one’s fault.

            1. That’s what I meant. Lewis didn’t look (Possibly in hindsight a bit silly) but I agree. That’s racing :D

            2. Me too, I just took issue with ‘cutting off’.

          2. you have gotta pick your fights ,lewis is sitting in a faster and healthy car , kobayashi was in a slower and damaged car. why bother putting up a fight where an incident is likely to occur ?

            look how button was given enough room by other more reasonable drivers at the same point on the track

            1. You’re completely right of course.

              But I’m not saying Kamui “should” have been there, I’m saying he has every right to be there.

            2. Watching on OneHD I missed the interview with Lewis, but picked up on the commentary when DC said Lewis did not even know who it was who hit him (I don’t know if that’s true, I’m just going by Brundle and DC).

              I would have thought knowing who you’re trying to pass is crucial. Someone who does NOT yield easily is someone to keep an eye on until you see them eating dust in your mirror. No one’s at fault, Kamui probably could have yielded and braked earlier, but the reason we all love him is because he generally doesn’t. Lewis should have known this.

            3. Yes but we all know Lewis is not the sharpest.

          3. Offcourse he didn’t see him, he was looking in his right mirror where KOB was on his left.

          4. I’m happy (but obviously unhappy) to call it a racing incident. Lady luck seems to have deserted Lewis. Maybe they had a one night stand and Lewis didn’t call… Just a thought

      2. Lewis was past him Kobayashi could not get the position back from where he was and held a line which he shouldn’t have. Another Lewis hater, you probably wish he had been seriously hurt….go you..you’re awesome!

        1. what? that’s quite a leap from the initial comment.

        2. … For the record… I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Racing driver, Small chicken or piece of fluff. (I like fluff).

          However… I don’t see why Kamui can’t take that line. What should have happened was Kamui was forced to back off as they went round the corner. Unfortunately it didn’t get that far.

          1. Alonso and Vettel had a very very similar battle going into the same corner…watch how Alonso handles the situation

            1. He’d better not go to NASCAR actually, as anyone who has watched NASCAR knows that if you drift across someones nose, as Lewis did today, you’re getting wiped out.

              Denying another driver his line through a corner by placing your car tactically is a perfectly acceptable thing to do, though Kobayashi didn’t have enough of an overlap to go through with that.

              Racing incident.

        3. @rick2k9 Silly comment. Lewis was easing over back onto the racing line. But Kobi wasn’t gonna just back off after getting a bit of a tow and moving up the outside.

          He was thinking of an attempt around the outside to have the racing line for the next part of the chicane. How is that wrong?

          Grow up. People don’t necessarily hate Lewis just because they disagree with you.

    4. Im really tired of the bias against Hamilton. Nigel Mansell in particular is such a spineless and biased steward. He should never be given such an opportunity again. As long as Hamilton is involved in an incident, the other driver is given the all clear. Utter rubbish.

      I think its time to begin to turn towards another sport. Kobayashi had absolutely no way to overtake given his position. He was an absolute idiot.

      1. Even on days where lewis is not at any fault ,haters will still apportion blame to this guy . Hate is like fuel .

      2. Lauda was on the same bandwagon. And Maldonado is pretty much in line with him. Strange to see how these people have somehow came to the conclusion, that Hamilton is driving recklessly and see almost everything happening as his mistake.

        But in this case, I think Kobayashi could and should have backed out (just as Maldonado might have done more to avoid the clash in Monaco) and Lewis should have looked in his mirrors, as it would have enabled him to get in with a shot at 2nd or maybe even a win later.

        This was a race incident to me.

      3. @Trix Yeah and your such a absolute genius your gonna be the next red bull driver.

        Repeat: Kobi wasn’t gonna just back off after getting a bit of a tow and moving up the outside.

        He was thinking of an attempt around the outside to have the racing line for the next part of the chicane. How is that wrong? He could well have made it work he had mores peed at the moment on the racetrack so don’t throw useless insults.

      4. koby'sleftfoot
        29th August 2011, 1:00

        I’m creasing up looking back at the blind Hami luvvas comments posted before he took one look at the replay and accepted full responsibility.

    5. i cant believe the incident today. kobayashi shouldnt have given lewis a big battle for it, but lewis should have given him more room. nonetheless, i cant beieve that the fia have said nothing about it even though hamilton was taken out by an incident with another driver. im sure to say that there would have been an investigation had it been the other way round, but who are we to know. upon watching the replay on the bbc, hamilton’s onboard shows that there is no input from him whatsoever so taht asks teh question why the incident happened. kobayashi could have stayed further left. we need to see kobayashi’s onboard before drawing a thorough conclusion of what has happened

      1. He made no input, but he was already travelling to that side of the track. It’s actually similar to what Button did to Hamilton at Montreal, just the other way around.

      2. so kk should let other drivers pass? so that’s what f1 is about. give me a break!

        1. Kamui should let other driver past because is Ham. To be more precise, every driver should let Ham past and not fight for position. I think that is the message.

    6. well, hamilton misjudgded the position of kobayashi. it is an incident, but it is not kamui’s fault. hamilton let his car go to the left, squizzing the sauber. he would have stayed in the middle of the track, it wouldn’t have happen.

      1. Exactly. If Kob has actually moved towards Lewis, then sure, blame it on Kob. However it was clear that Lewis was the one moving towards Kob, and if anyone should be penalised, it should be the driver who was changing his line.

        I’m not sure what Lewis was expecting Kob to do. Disappear into thin air?

        It reminds of when Vettel turned into Webber in Turkey last year.

        1. exactly, same incident as vettel/webber. but i think hamilton just didn’t realise there was koba on his left so close.
          it even reminds the situation of yesterday between hamilton and maldonado : maldonado squeezed hamilton a bit too much and hamilton hit him

          now though, the reaction of hamilton is quite pathetic. whinning and blaming the other driver. fifth season and he still behaves like a rooky. kind of reminds me montoya. just get on with it!

          1. I don’t think a comparison to yesterday is valid – MAL clearly swiped across HAM, after the session had ended (look for clips of HAM’s onboard of the incident for confirmation). HAM certainly didn’t hit him.

            Today looked like a case of HAM thinking he was fully past and KOB not thinking he needed to back out. Both contributed (unlike yesterday), so I’d go with 50/50.

            1. one of the argument in favor of hamilton is that kobayashi could have lifted because he had no reason to be where he was. fine, but yesterday hamitlon could have lifted as well to avoid contact, the qualifying were finished.
              truth is, in both case, kobayashi today and hamilton yesterday were not expected to be squezzed to the outside and so had no reason to expect to lift.

            2. I think you’re mis-reading the difference between the situations.

              MAL came from behind, going much faster than HAM and then went left in a right-hand turn. HAM was already going slowly, as the session had finished and I doubt had any time to react to MAL’s reckless behaviour.

              KOB was behind HAM for almost the entire length of the straight, having been passed and so did have a chance to back off.

            3. But why should Kob back off?

              I’d be disappointed if he did.

          2. I consider it a racing incident, but I fully understand why he concludes that he was hit from behind. He drifts into Koba’s path and there is no way he can tell wether he was hit from behind or he was the one banging his left rear tire into the other drivers front end. Thus it is natural to blame the other driver.

    7. I’d like to see a full bird’s eye view from the helicopter to completely know who’s fault it is. It seemed like Hamilton was going to turn in later than I expected so thats something I want to know. As of now I would leave it as a racing incident.

      1. Kob just kept his line, while Lewis moved over thinking Kob was behind him.

        1. I’m sick of this. Absolutely sick of the hypocrisy. I think we all know that if Hamilton had been in Kobayashi’s position, and caused Kobayashi to crash, the internet would be calling for Lewis’ head, calling for him to retire, saying that he was a danger to the sport, saying that he would “kill someone if he kept this up”. And you know what? In a accident that was, at best, a racing incident, and at worst, mostly Kobayashi’s fault, people on the internet are STILL saying Hamilton is a danger to others (even though it was he who was knocked out of the race.) Why, at worst, was it Kobayashi’s fault? When you have been overtaken by a superior car in a race, and especially by a car with whom you stand no chance of realistically competing against, it is simply not fair of you to put your car in a position to knock that other driver out of the race. It’s common courtesy. Look at how everyone else who was passed at Les Combes handled the situation- with respect. Let’s be clear about this- as big of a Hamilton fan as I am, I like to think I have a clear head and will say that this was a racing incident. That is it. I just can’t stand the haters out there. As much as I dislike Alonso and Vettel, I still have tremendous respect for them as drivers. My first instict, unlike the Hamilton haters, is to not go on a forum and start name calling and bashing them. I just don’t understand the vitriol towards Hamilton. Ok, that was the end of my rant. Glad to get that out of my system.

    8. Formula 1 is getting very annoying, I’m not a Hamilton fan but if Mansell was not a steward or things were the other way round, they would be quite different, I’m seriously considering watching and following in the future.
      You fanatics are watching something that is purely manufactured!!
      Good luck with it!

      1. We wouldn’t be very good fanatics otherwise, would we? ;)

        Calm down though. It’s only sport. Part of the drama.

    9. Its a shame F1 is going to sky next year, but if that means we get rid of this BBC commentary team especially Eddie Jordan, then it will be worth it.

      So the Hamilton haters are having their day today, but we know what Lewis is like, there are going to be many difficult days ahead for you lot, he’s just that good!! The best in fact, not matter what the commentary team and Martin Whitmarsh would have you believe.

    10. Kobayashi’s fault?! Really??!

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TSGB103JIM

      Hamilton just turns left to take the racing line as if Kobayashi weren’t there. Kamui didn’t do a thing, he just turns to the right a little to take the racing line, surely because he just didn’t expect Hamilton to close the door on him at that moment, as Hamilton could perfectly take the corner without going wide before it.

      To me it’s either Hamilton’s fault or nobody’s fault.

      1. Precisely. Kob didnt do a thing wrong. We’re all lucky Kob didnt drive onto the dirt under braking because then we could have seen an even larger accident.

        1. I agree with you…but it looks like Hammy got Knocked out from the impact!

          1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OMrSlUTyqc

            a bad crash and unfortunate incident, knocking him unconscious for a few secs on the final impact :(

      2. “To me it’s either Hamilton’s fault or nobody’s fault.”

        I suspect that is your position with any incident involving Hamilton…hmmm..one wonders why…

        1. You clearly don’t know me, nor ever talked to me, so please refrain from making such assumptions. Yes, I don’t like Hamilton, but that doesn’t stop me from praising him when he does well, nor it makes me accuse him of something he hasn’t done.

          1. Per the rules, the driver making the pass is the one responsible for doing so safely.
            Hamilton had gotten past Kobayashi, afterwards, Kobayashi tried to take the position back and did not do so safely.
            Had this happened the other way around half the people on here would be screaming to get Hamilton suspended.

      3. I agree
        What exactly was Kobayashi supposed to do? Not overtake Hamilton? It’s called a race.
        Lewis’ excuse that he didn’t see him is ridiculous, he moved to the middle of the track a few hundred meters earlier, to defend. then he slowly moved towards Kobayashi, leaving him nowhere to go. It’s beyond me how some people here can blame Kamui for the incident, sorry guys.

        1. In fairness, KOB had no chance of overtaking from the position he was in.

      4. so you look at it from one angle and bang! its all hamilton’s fault . where are the onboard footage . what was kobayashi getting at trying to go on the outside . Did you miss other parts of the race where button passed other cars at that same corner in similar fashion with no accident .

        And for heaven’s sake kobayashi was driving a wounded car ,why fight ?

        1. Because thats what racers do. Swap the places around and I’m sure Lewis would have done exactly the same thing as Kob.

          1. how do you know what lewis would have done ,are you psychic? .

          2. swap the positions around and I can guarantee it would all still be Lewis’ fault

        2. (sigh)

          I didn’t say it was “all Hamilton’s fault”. My point is that I disagree with those who are placing the blame entirely on Kobayashi’s shoulders.

          You talk about Button, but maybe, just maybe, Button wouldn’t turn to the left to widen his racing line as Hamilton did. I don’t really remember the moves Button did (particularly as if there were other cars on the outside, at the same spot), so I can’t comment much on that.

          And for heaven’s sake kobayashi was driving a wounded car ,why fight ?

          It’s called racing. Kobayashi was already carrying that damage for a while, so it clearly didn’t affect his performance that much (if at all). Why not fight then?

      5. It’s a 50/50 incident. Hamilton should’ve left more room and questions have to be asked about Kamui starting to turn in that early.

        The problem here is a lot of people will be blaming Hamilton for this yet a couple of months ago they will of argued that the Hamilton/Button incident was all Hamilton’s fault because he was the car behind and should of backed out.

        1. Not to mention that the situation in Canada isn’t comparable to this one.

          Canada – middle of a straight (even if it did curve a bit), going flat out.

          Spa – braking zone, going into a severe right hand turn.

          In Canada, HAM had a good chance of overtaking BUT. The same can’t be said of KOB in Spa by the time they got to the corner.

      6. It was just a racing incident that came about because Hamilton didn’t look in his mirrors and carried on like no-one was there which he must have thought was the case. Agree with your verdict.

        I know Gilly pretty well, I’ve debated many F1 issues with him for a while now and I’d vouch for him that he is one of the most balanced fans I’ve ever spoken too. Don’t say someone is prejudiced when you don’t know the person and don’t back it up with any evidence because it doesn’t destroy their argument it destroys yours.

        1. Thanks a lot Steph : )

          Yeah, I believe it was jsut a racing incident too – but I just couldn’t believe the comments blaming Kobayashi here, so I think I got a little carried away when I said it could be Hamilton’s fault.

          1. +1 as well too,Racing Incident!!! even though im a McLaren & Lewis fan Im a F1 Fanatic as well and that comes with pure Honesty & opinions.

            Lewis rightfully went to the inside to defend and went back across to take the Racing line for the next corner but whilst doing that,He werent looking in his Mirrors and Kamui went right towards the McLaren without Lewis knowing.So 50/50 or just a Racing Incident.

      7. To me its Kob’s fault, because the end result was that Hamilton was taken out.

        But Hamiltons carelessness did play a small part into it. This is one of many incidences that we are yet to see with Hamilton involved. Why? Because he is not careful enough when attempting or performing overtaking maneuvers. Great overtakes no problem, excellent attempts, great driver, but he certainly leaves lot of things to chance. If this was Alonso, I am certain the incident would not have occurred, because Alonso would have provided enough room on the outside just in case the opponent wants to attempt something. It is called anticipating the obvious. The overtaking maneuver is not over “until it is over”. Just like in real life, if you drive through the traffic you have to expect some obvious things that may or may not happen. If you don’t care about these obvious things, then you are trusting your safety entirely on others. That is how Hamilton drives when he overtakes – he expects too much from the opponent.

    11. If I had to give someone the blame, I’d give it to Hamilton. Kobayashi was not entitled to yield or get out of the way. Hamilton should have looked in his mirrors to see Kobayashi on the outside. Having said that, the stewards did the right thing by not penalizing anyone.

      1. No driver is required to yield to any overtaking move but for fairness and safety of everyone, you play it safe. Bear in mind that a greater percentage of overtaking might not happen if the driver being overtaken wants to be difficult and not give enough space. Lewis had overtaken Kobayashi and was ahead of him. Kobayashi has a better view and lewis and able to judge his braking better than lewis so it was up to him to play it safe. All lewis was doing was taking the racing line like every other driver taking that corner. Note that when the stewards investigated the Button-Hamilton incident at Canada, they took the lines the drivers took in previous laps into consideration and other variable.. For the stewards to have decided that this was a racing incident without looking into is just ridiculous!

        1. But you can’t take the racing line if you know that another car is there.

          1. he didn’t take the racing line, there was easily enough room for Kobayashi

          2. In a passing situation, the driver in front is rarely blamed…again because it’s the responsibility of the driver attempting the pass to do so safely. In Monaco, Hamilton attempted passes that were too optimistic a couple of times. He collided with the car in front, and was penalized as he should have been….How is it then, that while he’s in front and get’s hit it’s also his fault.

        2. @DT ,if i may ask did you watch singapore 2010 .in that race lewis pulled a move on webber that caused lewis to crash . The popular consensus was that hamilton was at fault for not giving enough room . fast-forward a few laps later and kubica pulls the same move in the same spot on sutil , the pass was successful . How is it that some drivers can judge when to avoid an incident and others can’t ?. And should a lack of judgement be fairly and consistently punished just like lewis was punished at monaco for the incident on maldonaldo? .

          The same incident that happened between button and lewis at canada also occurred between heidfield and buemi . I recall buemi getting punished . The difference in all these incidents i have cited is lewis . verdict is usually different when its lewis

          1. Why are you bringing up Singapore 2010? Your argument falls flat on its face when you mention that Kubica pulled an identical move to Hamilton, yet it was successful. That implies that the difference was the actions of the driver being overtaken. At Singapore Webber went in too deep and admitted as much, get over it.

            Today was just a racing incident, F1 cars have blind spots just like any other vehicle so its not a surprise that drivers occasionally don’t see another car but I suppose you think Montreal was Hamilton’s fault as well.

            1. @curedcat,yes i watched the Singapore 2010 race. Glad you brought it up and it confirms my point about the actions of the driver being overtaken as pointed out by Ragerod.

    12. it’s kind of funny that this is his argument, though, considering the monaco and montreal crashes.

    13. Hamilton moved in the braking zone towards the racing line when 3/4 of a car ahead of the sauber – not a good idea, Kobayashi (with a damaged front wing & older tyres) turned in and hit the left rear of hamilton, watch the white line towards his left front wheel.

      like yesterday, hamilton not blameless, but it was definitely 70-30 Kobayashis fault. To not even investigate the incident was utterly ridiculous by the stewards.

      1. Kob didnt turn lol

    14. As for who’s to blame for this incident, if it involves Hamilton, then we all know what the result would be. Now can you see why he said what he did at Monaco!!

    15. Saying that his car was slow on the straights but yet being able to pass Kobayashi..How that happened is a mystery..

      I have to admit..I think Hamilton was moving his car to defend his position and failed miserably..

      1. Not really a mystery – DRS?

        The fact that KOB was as close as he was at the end of the straight supports HAM’s claim (compare it to other DRS passes), as well as the Ferraris easily sailing past him early on.

    16. I stoped wathing the race after that not just becuase the race will be pridictably boring, the whole nonesporting nonsense threatmentof LH by the FIA and fellow drivers who envy him for what he is (The Special One)

      The question is why are the FIA leting down the sport’s integrity?

      1. I’d have to say if it had been Hamilton on Kobayashi and Kobayashi had gone out, I think he would have had a drive-through or similar….

      2. Lol, the special one ? that’s Alonso or even Vettel (soon to be 2 times WDC), but Hamilton ? he is past his prime. Even Button is more consistent than LW.

    17. Why wasn’t there at least an investigation? You bet if it was other way around Hamilton would have got some sort of a penalty. FIA is a joke.

    18. 50/50 incident.. Hamilton caused the crash, but Kobayashi was putting his nuts on the table by holding his line..

      can’t understand why anyone would say that Kobayashi should yield.. “ooh look! a big shiny Mclaren! I better get out, and let him carry on his merry way”..

      1. Only reason for him to have yielded would have been realising Hamilton had not seen him so rather brake and save his wing then not brake and get damage.
        And if Hamilton had given a quick look in his mirror and seen Kobayashi he should have moved aside for the same reason.

        Neither did, so that makes it a race incident that cost both a better result. Shame for them.

    19. Koba was holding the outside because Ham was seriously slow even with his drs on, barely managing to pass on the straight. Why wouldn’t he stay on the outside?
      Ham has no right to run into other cars, this is not stock car racing.
      Claiming that someone hit him (Ham) is just ridiculous, watching the footage it is clearly Ham moving into Kob, who had nowhere to go.
      Happy that Ham is ok, but he needs to cool down and develop a better awareness of his race positon.

    20. A racing incident.

      1. Agree 100%

    21. You can count me as Ham’s hater in certain way. I think he’s really fast but need to know the limits.

      Lewis makes this move almost every race. He pushes opponent towards the grass making him to back off. First time i’ve noticed it was Italy ’08 (or ’09 i’m not sure now). On the main straight he pushed several drivers to the grass and only Webber didn’t move. They collided, Mark took escape route and Lewis was ahead after.
      Stewards didn’t punish Hamilton then giving him carte blanche to such moves in the future.

      In recent history such move was pulled by Buemi on Heidfeld in Germany. Buemi was punished btw. I think Lewis should have been penalized also.

      I think Witmarsh’s position that Kobayashi should have backed off is just nuts. Mirrors are not just pretty sparkly things. They are installed for a reason.

      1. Do you mean Monza 2008 in the rain? I noticed Hamilton’s agressive defensive techniques too in that race.

    22. This seems very similar to when Button squeezed into hamilton in canada, this time lewis was in Buttons position and Kobayashi in Hamiltons, but the same result, Hamilton retires. Just a racing incident i guess. Hamilton unlucky.

      1. Hammy needs a Mirror adjustment,and a MRI after being knocked out.

    23. Hamilton being one who likes to push limits, pushed it too far today..Kobayashi had the right to stay where he was..Its called racing for a reason

    24. kobayashi and hamilton are both quite aggressive drivers im not suprised this happened :) well done to button though :D

    25. I think Lewis could have avoided this incident. I’m very disappointed. But Koba could have braked earlier as well. It was a racing incident.

      1. Kamui said to Japanese reporter that it might be very strange for him to brake at that time while he just simply went straight.

    26. Niki Lauda set things straight.
      In my point of view Lewis should have checked his mirrors. Kobayashi had every right to take a look at the outside, perhaps he wanted to put pressure on Lewis that he’s still there. It’s part of racing.

      Racing incident 100%.

    27. It’s never Hamilton’s fault, is it? He never admits blame. In this instance it was a racing incident, but if it had ended Kobayashi’s race Hamilton should have got a penalty for Monza. You just can’t take the racing line when a car is there, and Kobayashi wasn’t being over-aggressive, he was perfectly entitled top be there.

    28. Lewis crashed and after that the race was boring, for me :P

    29. Can people just relax, it was a racing incident. Thats it.

    30. i just think hamilton just didn’t see kobayashi

    31. SennaNmbr1 (@)
      28th August 2011, 15:43

      Hamilton moves to the right to defend the inside but then diagonals towards the corner turn in point, cutting Kobayashi off. But of course, Kobayashi could’ve slotted in behid Hamilton.

      1. But why should Kobayashi slot in behind? He clearly thought that he had a chance of re-overtaking Hamilton and thus was well within his rights to stay on the outside.

        1. Although he says he didn’t want to fight for it, so maybe he could have taken a bit more space. But he also wasn’t being silly expecting HAM to leave him some space either. Sad for both.

        2. SennaNmbr1 (@)
          28th August 2011, 22:08

          True. I was just highlighting where each driver could’ve done something different.

          But I don’t like all this coming back over on to the racing line to take the corner. THere isn’t enough side visibility these days for them to do that. Rubens did it to Ralf in Melbourne and sent him flying.

    32. SennaNmbr1 (@)
      28th August 2011, 15:43

      Hamilton moves to the right to defend the inside but then diagonals towards the corner turn in point, cutting Kobayashi off. But of course, Kobayashi could’ve slotted in behind Hamilton.

      1. SennaNmbr1 (@)
        28th August 2011, 15:44

        So true, I said it twice ;)

    33. I’m a Hamilton fan, but i’m not going to say that it was Kobayashi’s fault, because it wasn’t.. it was simply a driving incident, i don’t understand why most people find it necessary to blame a certain driver. Hamilton simply did not see Kobayashi, and it was for position so Kobayashi had every right to fight for it.

      1. I am not a Hamilton fan and I must say that he changed his trajectory twice, once defending, and twice moving on the racing line, where Kobayashi was.

      2. I wish I could say as an excuse/reason if I caused an accident “I simply didn’t see them”.

    34. It was clearly a racing incident.

      I hate all this modern ‘blame culture’ why does anyone have to be to blame?

      One thing that is beyond doubt is it robbed us of a more exciting end of the race.

      1. Agreed, in recent years it’s become Formula whine.

    35. Looking at how much ppl blame Hamilton for everything and how he is always the wrong-doer… he should quit F1! Make all you guys happier. Let’s see just how much it affects the sport.

    36. If i have to put blame on anyone it has to be lewis, it was clearly him who moved into Kobayashi’s path. Kobayashi had nowhere to go, and Lewis just didn’t see him. Simple as that.
      I would like to see lewis admit it was his fault, but to his defense it was a mistake that was very easily done. He had to both look for the apex and his turn in point while checking his mirrors. Not easy.
      He should just have left enough space on the outside, so in case Koba was there he would have somewhere to go.
      But in my opinion, no need to penalize anyone, it was just a racing incident. No need for further action.

    37. If Hamilton is blamed for this incident I don’t see why Button can’t be blamed for Canada.
      Neither can I see why Glock can’t be blamed for Monza(When Vettel won for STR).
      Point is Hamilton will always have the blame whatever the outcome.
      Personally, it was just a racing incident, something you can blame on those very wide wings plus the extra width from Kobayashi’s front wing damage.

    38. Dimitris 1395 (@)
      28th August 2011, 17:03

      Clearly a racing incident for me…

    39. Total racing incident – both drivers will feel a bit sheepish in the morning it was unnecessary but one of those things that happens in racing

    40. I think everyone was surprised to see Kamui still alongside Lewis after the DRS pass. Every other DRS pass we saw the overtaking driver just wheeled past and had plenty time to get back on the racing line. Lewis just got caught out by this and understandably just didn’t expect Kobayashi to still be there.

      That said, Kamui had every right to be there, he didn’t turn in early and was on the outer edge of the track, what made the contact was Lewis moving over to the racing line.

      This gives credence to Lewis’ argument that he was just slow on straights, a set up error putting on too much downforce for a dry race. This is what caught him out, he didn’t expect Kamui would be able to come back at him as Lewis had his DRS open. Just an unfortunate racing incident. Neither did anything ‘wrong’, Hamilton should have just kept his eye on Kamui and take a tighter line into that turn.

    41. Hamiltons fault. There was no need to go back to the racing line. He didnt even know KK was there.

    42. From Lewis’ Twitter Account a few moments ago:

      “After watching the replay, I realize it was my fault today 100%. I didn’t give Kobayashi enough room though I thought in was past.”

      “Apologies to Kamui and to my team. The team deserves better from me. Best wishes, Lewis”

    43. At a certain point not so long ago the people in formula one worked out that it made sense to make slightly heavy tough suspension that could take a few hits. Over a season it scored you more points even though maybe the car was slightly heavier and so slower.

      The drivers because of the high sides to the cockpit can’t see what’s alongside and slightly behind them. Why don’t they fit a few small cameras and a little screen, or some kind of display to the helmet. …OK it’s more weight and it’s a bit complicated, but it might actually be worth it over a season.

      …especially for Lewis at the moment. ;-)

      [full disclosure: I’m a Hamilton fan]

    44. Hamilton got a lot of stick for going up the outside of Button in Canada when he was obviously faster. Today Kobiashi knew he was not faster than Hamilton as he said ,and was just passed, he had no reason being up the outside. However, as Hamilton said, his car was massively slow so perhaps, Kobi got up beside him without trying. Having passed Kobi, Lewis had no reason to believe Kobi would bu on his outside and going for the racing line is what he should have done. Taking the blame 100% is just a gentlemanly thing, especially because he knows he will be getting lots of criticism. I think you can hardly apportion blame, unless one expects Kobi to stop running altogether.

    45. This being judged a racing incident is rare these days. Almost everything else has to be punished, as if the drivers are not punished already with damage to their car etc. Nobody hits the opposition on purpose, but of course sometimes the contact is a consequence of dangerous driving.
      Often a drive through penalty also penalizes the victim, as it promotes other drivers previously behind the driver who made the offense. Some of the punishments seem to serve only the purpose of granting, the fans of the victim, some kind of justice. But is it fair to gift a no of drivers, not only one position, for the one who had a DNF due to a collision, but two positions, because the one who is “to blame” is punished and thus demoted. In which way have the drivers behind deserved this gift? Have they pushed the one in front so hard, that he made a mistake and caused an accident? Or are they just lucky?
      In F1 it is very difficult to ram the others of track to gain the win – collisions typically cause extra pitstops for new noses, tyres or it decrease the cars handling, so nobody does it by purpose. Sometimes a punishment or warning is needed, but often I don’t se the relevance, other than the “He was to blame, he must be punished!” Or is it part of the show?: “Car no. 9 is under investigation”, and we think “Oh, who is driving car no 9 and what has he done?”

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